Machine for sewing looped fabrics



No Model.)

S. HBNSHALL. MACHINE FOB SEWING LooPBD FABRICS.

No. 586,518. Patented July 18,1897.

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UIQ l l Il. Il NIH @Humm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUELIIENSHALL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR SEWING LOOPED FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,518, dated July 18, 1897.

Serial Nol 471,027. (No model.)

T0 CLZZ whom, it may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL HENSHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Uniting Knitted Vebs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of certain improvements in that class of machines known as looping-machines which are employed for uniting, by means of a line of stitches, two or more knitted Webs which are applied to grooved pins or points carried by an intermittently-moving plate, the needle which carries the looping-thread being vibrated across said plate and being guided by the points through the successive stitches of the courses of knitted web applied to said points, so that the stitches formed by the action of the needle and looper or other equivalent stitchforming mechanism serve to unite together said courses of knitted loops.

One object of my invention is to so construct a machine o' this class as to provide simple and efficient means for forming, alternately in and out of the work, the successive stitches resulting from the joint action of the needle and looper, so as to form what is known as a double-stitch7 seam-that is to say, one in which only every other stitch engages with the loops of knitted web-such a seam possessing greater elasticity than a single-stitch seam in which the successive uniting stitches engage with successive loops of the courses of knitted web which are to be united.

A further object is to so hang the looperarm as to prevent excessive stretching of the stitches formed by the joint action of the needle and looper.

These objects I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-'- Y is a plan view of the looper and looper-arm. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of part of the machine, and Fig. 6 is a view illustrating a modification of part of the invention.

1 represents a bed-plate, from which projects upward and outward an arm 2, in which is formed a bearing for the driving-shaft 3, the latter having an eccentric 4, a duplex cam 5, and an eccentric-ring 6.

Secured to and projecting from the arm 2 is a stud 7, on which is free to turn a sleeve 8, and on the latter are mounted a spur-wheel 9 and a cam 10, secured together, the spurwheel meshing with a pinion 11 on the drivingshaft 3, so that said wheel 9 will make one vrotation for every two rotations of the driving-shaft.

The sleeve 8 passes through an elongated slot 12 in an arm 13, which is thus. at liberty both to swing around the anis of the stud 7 and also to move longitudinally in respect to said stud, and said arm 13 carries at its lower end a curved needle 14 and has upon its inner side an antifriction-roller 15, which bears against the face of the cam 10, the upper end of the arm 13 being acted upon by a spring 16, tending to constantly lift said arm and thus maintain its roller 15 in contact with the face of the cam. It will be evident, however, that in place of the cam 10 and spring 16 a disk having a cam-slot in its face for the reception of the roller 15 might be employed in order to move the needle-arm positively in both directions. (See Fig. 6.)

The sleeve S carries in advance of the arm 13 a bell-crank lever 17, one arm of which fits between ribs or iianges 18 on the arm 13 and is secured to the latter by means of confiningscrews 19, one of which passes through a slot 2O in the lever-arm and screws into the arm 13, while the other screw 19 passes through a slot 21 in the arm 13 and screws into the lever-arm. Vhile the needle-arm is thus compelled to vibrate with the lever 17, it is free to move longitudinally independent of said vlever under the inliuence of the cam 10 and spring 16. Hence on one vibration the needle-arm may be depressed, so as to cause its needle to work close down to a grooved point 22 of the rotating plate or carrier 23 and thus pass through the loops o1` courses of knitted web carried by said point, while on the next vibrating movement the needle-arm may be lifted, so as to permit its needle to swing above the work and thus, by cooperation with the looper-hook 24, form iirst a stitch uniting loo the loops of the fabric and then a stitch outside of said loops, so as to give the seam the desired elasticity.

It should be understood that the plate 23 is intermittently operated, as usual, by pawland-ratchet mechanism actuated by the eccentric 4, so as to present the points 22 in succession to every other movement of the needle.

The vibration of the lever 17 is effected by means of the eccentric-ring 6, with which engages a shoe 25, hung to the short arm of said lever, so as to be free to swing thereon.

If it is desired to use the machine for singlestitch work onlyw-th at is to say, work in which the successive stitches are formed through successive loops of the knitted fabric applied to the points 22-the needle-arm 13 may either be drawn down to the full extent and secured in this position by tightening the screws 19 or the cam 10 may be disconnected from the wheel 9 and moved to such position as to permanently depress the arm 13, the speed of movement of the plate 23 being increased, so as to present a new point 22 on each vibration of the needle.

The looper-hook 24 has a compound or fourmotion swing imparted to it by means of the duplex cam 5, which comprises a peripheral portion 26 and a side cam 27, the peripheral cam acting upon a lug 2S on the looper-arm 29 and the side cam acting upon a lug 30 on said arm, the pivoting of the armk with reference to this compound movement being effected by hanging the forked inner end of the arm by means of a horizontal pin 31 to the head 32 of a swivel-bolt adapted to a bearing 33 on the bed-plate 1.

A spring 34 tends to lift the looper-hook and also to draw the same sidewise, so as to hold the lugs 2S and 30 in contact with the cams 26 and 27.

It will be observed on reference to Fig. 4 that the forked or pivot end of the looper-arm 29 is laterally odset on the same side of the arm from which the looper-hook projects, so that the axis upon which the looperarm swings is substantially in line with the acting portion of said hook. Hence the latter swings in an arc, such as indicated by dotted lines, which is as close as possible to the work hanging upon the points 22,the acting portion of the hook being at its opposite extremes of movement substantially equidistant from the point 22, carrying the loops which are being joined, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. ,Hence' there is no excessive draft upon the needlethread and nopullingof long stitches,as would be" the case if the looper-hook moved in such an arc as to cause it to travel away from the work in catching the loop of needle-thread and retaining the same on the Withdrawal of the needle. Consequently the take-up is very slight and a very light tension can be employed, which conduces to the formation ofan elastic seam.

It will be noticed on reference to Fig. l that the point 22 has an oifset 35, so that that p0rtion of the point which receives the work is in a higher plane than the portion resting upon the ring 23.

In order to secure the points laterally in position, they are let into recesses in the plate and the intervening meta-l is flattened down over the points, as shown in Fig. 5.

Vhere the projecting portion of the point is in the same plane as the 4portion thus secured to the plate, therefore, it sometimes happens that the needle strikes the metal which secures the point and is bent or broken thereby, an objection which, it will be evident, is effectually overcome when the work-holding portion of the point is in a plane above that which rests upon the plate, so that the needle in its movement never approaches closely to that portion of the point which is secured to the plate.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination in a looping-machine, of an intermittently-rotated disk having projecting points to which the loops of the webs to be united are applied, a vibrating lever, an arm mounted upon the same so as to be capable of sliding toward and from the axis of vibration of the lever, a needle so mounted upon said arm that it will move in a plane parallel with the loop-holding points, a cam which serves to move the needle-arm away from the axis of vibration of the vibrating lever, and means for maintaining an engaging element of said arm in contact with said cam, substantially as speciiied.

2. The combination in a looping-machine, of an intermittently-rotated disk having projectin g points to which the loops of the webs to be united are applied, a vibrating lever, an arm mounted upon the same so as to be capable of sliding toward and from the axis of vibration of the lever, a needle so mounted upon said arm that it will move in a plane parallel with the loop-holding points, a cam acting upon said needle-arm and serving to move the same away from the axis of vibration of the vibrating lever, and a spring acting upon said needle-arm and serving to move it in the opposite direction, substantially as specified.

3. The combination in a looping-machine, of an intermittently-rotated disk'having projecting points to which the loops of the webs to be united are applied, a pivoted lever, a shaft having means for vibrating said lever,

an arm mounted upon the vibrating lever so as to be capable of sliding toward and from the axis of vibration of the same, a needle so mounted upon said arm that it will move in a plane parallel with the loop-holding points, a cam whereby the arm can be moved away from the axis of vibration of the vibrating lever, a shaft carrying said cam, gearing whereby said shaft is turned at one-half of the speed of the shaft which operates the vi- IOO brating lever, and means whereby an engaging element of the arm is maintained in contact with the cam, substantially as speoied.

L The combination in a 1oopingmael1ine, of a circular disk having radial projecting points to which the loops of the webs to be united are applied, a vibrating needle, a looper-hook, an arm carrying the same and having at the rear a projecting lng with a vertical pivotal bearing, and means for operating said parts, the looper and the pivot-lug projecting from the same side of the looperarm, and the looper-hook7 the axis of the looper-arni and the Work-holding point which carries the loops that are being joined being in the same transverse plane, so that the aoting portion of the looper-hook is, at its opposite extremes of movement, substantially Correction in Letters Patent No. 586,518.

It is hereby certified that Letters Patent No. 586,518, issued July 18, 1897, upon A the application of Samuel Henshall, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for an improve' ment in Machines for Sewing Looped Fabrics, was erroneously granted to saidv Samuel Henshall, Whereas said Letters Patent should have been granted to Anna K.

Henshall, as eeeutrz'x of said Samuel He-nshall, deceased and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform tothe record of the case in the Patent Office. n

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 20th day of July, A. D. 1897.

VEBSTER DAVIS, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Countersigned A. P. GREELEY,

Acting Commissioner of Patent-s. 

